Ending an internship, starting a Children’s Services career

We want to congratulate Ta’Yana Edwards, who graduated from college just before Christmas and is already working in Children’s Services.
 
Edwards earned her bachelor’s degree in social work tomorrow from Northern Kentucky University. She finished school while working full-time as an eligibility technician for JFS – and while doing an internship in Children’s Services.
 
This arrangement – a full-time JFS job and an internship at the same time – came about because Edwards was having difficulty finding an internship with a schedule that would work around her full-time job. She said NKU generally doesn’t want its students to intern where they work – they prefer them to find something elsewhere to broaden their horizons. 
 
But Edwards argued that working in FAA and interning in Children’s Services were different enough for her to gain great experience. NKU signed off on it as did the agency. Internship Advisor Emily Grace, who has been working to grow our Children’s Services internship program, was happy to have her and her Children’s Services coworkers can’t say enough positive things. 
 
“Tay goes the extra mile on all training opportunities,” said Sierra Whitlock, intake and after-hours response manager. “And that intrinsic motivation is so rare to find!” 
 
Edwards joined the agency just over two years ago. She feels thankful for the help and support she got while juggling the two jobs. She mentioned that Whitlock once picked her up at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center where she was shadowing a worker on a case. It was getting late and Whitlock knew Edwards would have to be at her regular job in the morning, so she picked Edwards up, allowing her to go home and get some rest. 
 
Precious Jasper, Edwards’ previous supervisor, hated to lose such a valued employee. But she is proud to see that all the work Tay puts in is paying off and happy that the agency agreed to the arrangement. 
 
“Tay is great and I’m so excited that this opportunity is available for her,” she said. “Tay consistently displays a positive attitude and passion to help our clients. She is going to be an excellent asset to Children’s Services.”